Sunday columns

By 9 a.m. the day was promising pleasant weather, so I stopped at the grocery store for a bag of apples and drove out to see my friend the talking mule. Unless you’re a regular reader of these reports in the paper, you may not know about this mule. Most people I hear from don’t […]
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In September when we were in New York, I was sitting in a soft chair in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel one afternoon, and a tourist came along and sat down almost beside me. I say almost because he left an empty chair between us. Lots of chairs were in that lobby. Sitting close […]
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WINEDALE — Another sweet morning, calm and quiet, on the front porch of the old farmhouse in Washington County. I’ve just finished feeding my fire ants. Raising fire ants is one of my hobbies here at Winedale. I got into this activity more than 25 years ago in Houston, before we bought this place. So […]
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WINEDALE — Talking to you, at last, from the front porch of the old farmhouse in Washington County. Glad to be back after the big trip to New York and New England. Well, it’s more than feeling glad to be back. Did you ever leave a place and when you returned, you could tell the […]
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SOMEWHERE IN RHODE ISLAND — Hello from the highway. We’re back on the road, driving Interstate 95 toward New York City. We’ve made a temporary stop so I can think about the state of Rhode Island a while, before we drive out of it and into Connecticut. A couple of weeks ago, we drove this […]
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CAPE COD, Mass. — Here we are in the town of Chatham, following the rule: When you’re a tourist, do as the other tourists do. What they do in Chatham is gather in noisy gangs at a local fishing pier, and wait for the boats to come in and unload their catch. But watching dead […]
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CAPE COD, Mass. — Hello from the city of Chatham. In Barnstable County. In the state of Massachusetts. This sudden change from Winedale to Cape Cod has given me a case of jet lag but I think I’m going to like it here. Main reason is, we’ve rented a house that has a thermometer mounted […]
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You’ve caught me in a sort of sour mood because I’m deep into a chore that I hate — packing for a long trip. I still enjoy going places I’ve never been and seeing things I’ve never seen, but I’ve come to despise getting ready to go. True, my partner takes care of most of […]
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All columnists get questions. Here are a few that have come my way lately: Q: On Facebook you mentioned the deadline for your column. I’ve always wondered, if writing a column is all you do for a living, why can’t you get way ahead by writing a dozen columns at once, and then just loaf […]
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WINEDALE — Here at the old farmhouse in Washington County, just outside the kitchen door, we have a thermometer hanging from a rusty nail. Right now, at 6:50 a.m., it’s telling me the temperature is 70 degrees on our front porch. A delicious morning. We’ve had a fine shower and the oaks are looking fresh […]
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